2D FRANKEN DECADE? CALL IT `JOE`

The 1980s are almost over. So you`re probably asking yourself the same question you`ve been asking all through the decade: What does this mean to Al Franken?

It means that he has to come up with a new decade name.

The 1960s, you`ll recall, were ''The Us Decade.'' The 1970s were ''The Me Decade.'' So Franken, a writer and performer for NBC`s ''Saturday Night Live,'' decided the 1980s would be ''The Al Franken Decade.''

Rather than thinking only about how things would affect them, Franken implored his fellow postwar Baby Boomers watching ''SNL'' at the end of 1979 to instead think about how things would ''affect me, Al Franken.''

Why ''The Al Franken Decade''? ''Because I thought of it first, and I`m here on television,'' he said at the time.

Franken is 10 years older now. He left ''SNL,'' then returned to it. He has two children, a daughter, 8, and a son, 5. The son`s name is Joe, hence Franken said from New York that he has decided the 1990s will be ''The Joe Franken Decade.''

''Our generation has defined its decades in terms of themselves,'' said Franken, 38, as he worked on the script for a recent ''SNL'' telecast.

''And about this time 10 years ago, I noticed a lot of articles in which experts took to defining the upcoming `80s in terms of their own expertise.

''I remember there was a My Turn column in Newsweek in which an energy expert predicted that the `80s would be `the energy conservation decade,` that sort of thing, and I thought, it`s just going to be `The Me Decade` all over again. That`s where `The Al Franken Decade` came from.''

It`s also where ''The Joe Franken Decade'' comes from. Franken sees his fellow Baby Boomers shifting their focus to their children as some sort of egotistical extension of themselves.

So Joe, who is just a half-decade old and only recently graduated into the full-day program at his local Montessori School, has had the 1990s thrust upon him by his father.

''I don`t know if he quite grasps the concept of a decade, but he`s excited about being on TV,'' Franken said. ''He has wanted to ever since his sister got to appear on the show. And he wants to tell a joke.''

Like father, like son. Early in ''The Al Franken Decade,'' Franken offered to sell ''SNL'' viewers ''Al Franken Decade'' commemorative medals with his picture on them. If you ordered immediately, Franken offered to send along a small copper medallion with a picture of Abraham Lincoln on one side and a picture of the Lincoln Memorial on the other with the year of its minting embossed on it-in other words, a penny.

Another night in 1980, as April 15 neared, Franken noted that viewers probably were wondering how the upcoming income-tax deadline would ''affect me, Al Franken.''

He then asked viewers to send him receipts; he had an accountant who would know what to do with them.

Franken decided by May of that year that he should have a limousine at his disposal. ''This is where you come in, and you can help me,'' he said. ''I want all of you to write NBC and pressure them to get me a limousine.''

Then Franken, Lorne Michaels, Bill Murray, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner and all the other talented people involved with the show left after the 1979-80 season.

It took just a few months for NBC to realize its mistake and install a new cast and crew of writers.

Franken returned briefly that season to deliver a ''Decade''-like editorial and establish a link to better days.

''If you`re wondering what you can do for me, Al Franken, please write a card or letter to Put `SNL` to Sleep,'' he said. ''Let`s put this show out of its misery. You`ll be doing a great favor for yourselves and for me, Al Franken.''

NBC didn`t, and that turned out to be alright for Al. He wound up eventually returning-along with some of the others from the original show. The current edition of ''SNL'' is carving its own niche with a combination of daring and consistency largely absent for much of the 1980s.

But that hardly tells the whole story of ''The Al Franken Decade.''

''In 1980, the hostages were held in Iran, Reagan was elected president and I left `Saturday Night,` '' Franken recounted.

''In 1981, the hostages were freed, Reagan took office and I signed a lucrative script deal with Warner Bros.''

Likewise, 1983 was the year the Marines were bombed in Lebanon-and Al bought a co-op at an insider price. In 1986, the Challenger crashed-and Al sold the co-op at a fabulous profit. You get the idea.

Now, we`re on the verge of ''The Joe Franken Decade'' and we are left to ask ourselves how all of this will affect Al`s son.

''He`ll have to take a nap before the show,'' said his dad. ''Come to think of it, I`d better write two versions-one if he stays up, the other if he doesn`t make it.''